“Yow! James,” Eason called and waived his raised hand at the bartender.
James looked up from the drink he was concocting, nodded in acknowledgement, and looked back to what he was doing.
Eason flipped a 10-piece Dracknid silver into the piano player’s small tip-crock sitting atop the upright piano. Dinks were compliments of the White Bear Center for the Arts, but it was customary to tip the staff.
The musician didn’t skip a beat when he gave Eason a quick thumbs up.
“Care if I join you?” Eason asked. Not waiting for an answer, he took a seat at the round high-top oak table. “You must be new. I haven’t seen you here before. Names Eason. Well not really Eason,” he said and stuck out his hand. “I play Eason in a couple of the books by a guy named Blumer. My real name is Philip. Most people who come in here either go by the character they play or their own name if they don’t have a gig. You an actor.”
The elderly gentleman shook Eason’s hand. “Amazing,” he replied, his smile blending with the wrinkles on his face. I’m surprised we’ve never met before. I’m Hagerwolf from Blumer’s first series. I had a nice four book run with him. I wondered what happened to him. I’d heard he switched to an epic adventure.”
“Here’s your drink,” James said to Haggerwolf, and placed a half full wine glass of a foaming green beverage on the table. “I made you your regular,” he said to Eason. With a ‘clunk,’ James put the mug on a coaster and headed back to the bar.
“I heard about this place from Gordon. He plays a bad guy for Blumer,” Hagerwolf said. With a shaky hand, he raised the wineglass and took a sip, leaving foam on his moustache. “What brings you in tonight?”
“I’m branching out. A guy is paying me to be an Army draftee in a memoir. It’s a short part. I didn’t even have to audition for it. It’s not very long. It did make me laugh. I already wrote it down and posted it up there. I just came in to doublecheck it.”
“I could go for a laugh. I had three auditions myself this month and not one callback. Seems there isn’t much a need for old wizards right now. Tell me what you wrote.”
“I’ll show you. Grab your drink and we’ll head upstairs to the Memoir Nook. It’s more comfortable and has places where you can lounge back, fold your fingers behind your head, and really settle into an old memory. It’s titled, First-Aid at Ft. Campbell.”
The two men grabbed their drinks and headed up to the nook.